Saving the Wahumkhrah
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), Pyngshngain N Syiem, has informed that the Council is contemplating to come up with guidelines for preservation and protection of the Wahumkhrah river.
“Since the Wahumkhrah is now under the control of the Council, I personally feel that it is appropriate for the KHADC to frame some guidelines for the protection and preservation of the river,” Syiem said while speaking to The Shillong Times here on Saturday.
According to the KHADC CEM, these guidelines would dwell primarily on the parameters on how to protect the river while also elaborating on the activities which will not be allowed in areas close to the Wahumkhrah.
“If anybody wants to take up a project for cleaning of the river they would first have to take permission from the Council,” he said, while also maintaining that even the Government machineries, whether it is the district administration or the Urban Affairs epartment, which want to take up a project along the river would have to first take the Council into confidence.
“I am not against people taking up project for cleaning of the river. But the Council’s prior permission is a routine procedure since the river is under the jurisdiction of the KHADC,” Syiem said.
Meanwhile, he informed that the foundation stone of the scheme, which would be implemented for preservation of the Wahumkhrah, will be laid on March 23.
“We have erected the foundation stone opposite to the Wahingdoh local Dorbar Shnong community hall for the proposed scheme,” the CEM said.
As per the scheme, Syiem said that they would be allotting some amount of funds to the various Dorbar Shnong which are close to the Wahumkhrah to prevent the flow of garbage directly into the river.
“We have proposed the funds for the scheme through the 13th Finance Commission. In the first phase we have earmarked around Rs 10 lakh which would be distributed among the various local Dorbar Shnong,” Syiem said.
“We are planning to award these schemes to the various localities close to the river for taking up various programmes for protection of the river,” Syiem added.
KHADC CEM also stated that the KHADC fully understood the importance of the Dorbar Shnong and the people residing in localities close to the river, with regards to protection of the Wahumkhrah.
“The main purpose for coming up with this kind of schemes is to have a better working relationship with the local Dorbar Shnong of the various localities,” he said.
The KHADC had earlier proposed to conduct a massive cleaning drive along Wahumkhrah besides planting of trees along the stretch of the river.
It may be recalled that a proposed multi-project for cleaning up the Wahumkhrah is gathering dust at the Urban Affairs department despite the fact that the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB), few years back, had submitted its report about the condition of the river.
The proposal, mulled during the tenure of late former Chief Minister EK Mawlong, was aimed at reducing the flow of solid waste towards Umiam Lake through construction of check dams all along the river’s route starting from Polo.
It was earlier hailed as one of the best steps to check pollution of the river and stop siltation of Umiam Lake.
The State government had initially constituted a special committee with representatives from various departments to discuss steps to check pollution of the Wahumkhrah river but the committee slowly disintegrated without formulating any action plan on the matter.